Middle East Shares Mostly Higher

May 10, 2017Maggie Stevens

MidEast stocks mostly gained, with Saudi stocks firming on Q1 results. Saudi Electricity said it swung to a net profit of 4.94 billion riyals in Q1. Saudi Cement said profits fell by about a third from the year-ago level but were mostly in line with analysts’ expectations. Al Khodari swung to a net loss of 17.8 million riyals from a net profit of 2.2 million riyals in same period last year but still topped EFG Hermes’ forecast for a net loss of 38.0 million riyals.

Saudi International Petrochemical said net income almost doubled from the year-ago level and was in line with forecasts. DXB Entertainments said net losses widened to 287.4 million dirhams in Q1. Saudi Arabia’s main index edged up 0.2% to 6,930 points, Dubai dropped 0.4% to 3,395 points, Abu Dhabi dipped 0.06% to 4,582 points, Qatar jumped 1.3% to 9,992 points, Egypt gained 0.5% to 12,993 points, Kuwait added 0.9% to 6,656 points, Bahrain fell 0.6% to 1,308 points and Oman firmed 0.1% to 5,430 points.